Bloody Roar II: Unwanted Betrayal
by Tiger5913
Summary: What the hell was I thinking when I rated this only PG... O_o Oh well, this is the sequel to A Hidden Bond; hope you readers will enjoy this!
1. Default Chapter Title

9/19/00

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Bloody Roar II: Unwanted Betrayal

Disclaimer: the characters such as Uriko, Kenji, Mitsuko, etc. belong to Hudson Soft; Erika, Chrysta, and Curt belongs to me.

Dedication: to God, my parents, anyone who likes my writing, my supportive friends and beloved cousins.

Poem I wrote for this fic:

__

"Looks can be deceiving";

But don't assume the worst

Just because your eyes unintentionally 

Lied to you and made your mind 

Believe the sight before them.

Something we all have in common is

That there's another one,

And they are somewhere out there…

Whether a mere clone or

Forged together by birth.

If one has cruel, evil intentions,

Then as long as the two never meet

Peace and serenity will stay.

This is a story that's about what happens

When that 'pact' is broken,

And they go out for your blood…

What of our two main characters 

Currently involved in their own conflict?

They may be fighting now,

But hopefully, they'll soon come

To their senses and help each other out;

Working together is a safer insurance.

After it's all over, they'll turn and smile.

In the end, they will realize that

Their affection is too strong to be broken…

By a mere misunderstanding.

A hushed secret unspoken,

Uncertainty runs between the couple.

The love kept deep down inside

Begs to be said, released.

Will it ever be let out?

Or will the secret stay hidden,

Until it's too late for 

The cared one to find out?

****

Prologue

"When will we be starting?"

"Tomorrow." That was decided with in a malicious tone.

"Why just the two of them? Can we not get rid of the others as well?" Another voice took on a slight level of whining.

"They're stronger than ya might think. The others will be out of it soon, and then those two brats are most likely gonna take over, being the youngest," The complainer was informed.

"So this is just dirty work," came the blunt statement. 

"If they don't fall for it, you both can get rid of them instead."

Wicked smiles were plastered on the fighters' faces as they replied, "With pleasure…"

*****

_First day of school…ugh, only a couple of good things to look forward to…_

As a sigh of reluctance escaped the mouth of a young teenage girl, loud talking and yelling were being called out. High school students ran about the huge grassy lawn, greeting their friends and quickly trying to chat about their summer before the morning bell rang, signaling the start of the school day. The brown-haired female's eyes glanced the area for familiar faces and waved to some of her friends, but couldn't find the two people she was really keeping an eye out for. When only ten minutes were left until first period, her shoulders slumped slightly in disappointment. Feeling slightly dejected, she blew a strand of her silky hair up from her face.

Just then, someone called out loudly, interrupting her search; "Urikooo!!"

Immediately recognizing whom that was, she eagerly turned around to see the caller. "Erika!!"

A girl with flashy dark brown hair and wide green eyes appeared from a large crowd of students nearby. Covered by a light blue sweater and matching knee-length lavender skirt, she left the crowd and ran to the first girl. The two hugged excitedly and grinned as they starting launching questions and comments at each other.

"You're looking great, Erika! Where'd ya go off to this summer??" one of them initiated.

"Thanks! I was at my cousins' for a couple of months, that's all!" Erika Daweson replied with a small hop.

Her friend wrinkled her nose. "At least you went somewhere; I just had summer school!"

_That, and training with Mother…_ she thought to herself with a furtive smile.

Erika giggled. "Math?"

"Yup," she confessed sheepishly. "But at least I'll be in Trigonometry this year!"

"Hey, I thought you didn't like math! How come you're in such an advanced class?" 

The teenager shrugged. "Well, I might not like math, but that doesn't mean I can't do good in it, right?"

"Hehe, I guess not…!" Erika's eyebrows raised slightly all of a sudden in delight. "Hey…I have a question…" 

"Mmmhmm?"

"Did you see Kenji this summer?"

Her best friend's shoulders slumped lower as she frowned sadly. "Nope…he and Yugo went off somewhere."

"Who?"

"Oh, Yugo's his caretaker, guardian, brother, or whatever you'd like to call him."

Erika nodded. "Hmm…okay…did you miss him? I mean Kenji, of course."

Her companion giggled. "Does a fish want water?"

She smiled in amusement. "That much, huh?"

"Yeah…didn't get to see him after June…"

"So you're hoping to hang out with him today, I'm guessing?" Erika questioned.

"Definitely!" came the enthusiastic answer.

A big grin spread over the dark-haired girl's face; she didn't reply. 

"Why do you want to kno-hey!" the first girl started to ask.

Instead of finishing her sentence, she let out a squeal of surprise as the young student felt a strong arm slip under her backpack and clamp around her waist. Another hand reached toward the top end of her right arm and furiously started to tickle her while she squirmed to get out of the grasp. Laughing, she tried to protest in gasps, "Who is that…let…me go…teehee…!"   
After a few moments, she kicked the shin of the figure behind her and wrenched one of her hands free. She whirled around; grabbing the arm that was tickling her and quickly twisted it over her head, forcing the person's back to face her. A surprised "Ahh!" came out of their mouth as she thrusted the arm into their spine.

_Looks like training came in handy,_ she thought, a bit triumphantly.

"What was the big idea-" she tried to ask.

"So…this is how you're gonna greet me?" her captive said in an incredulous tone of voice, yanking out of her imprisonment. Turning the tables on her, the girl stumbled foreword as two arms from behind her secured themselves tightly across her abdomen.

"Heeey!" she shrieked when something rested itself on her shoulder.

"I'm glad to see you too, Uriko," was the calm reply into the long sleeve of her blue and white top.

"Kenji!!" she realized.

Chuckling, he released her and said, "Took you long enough!"

"Aww, you jerk!" Uriko Nonomura cried as she teasingly, but forcefully socked the boy in his arm.

"Ow!"

She laughed. "Now that I've done that…hi!! Where've you been the last couple of months? You're looking a lot better!"

Kenji Ohgami flushed. "Thanks, you look pretty yourself."

Uriko flashed him a smile and gave a cute little twirl. Roughly five feet and four inches, she was a slender girl of fourteen, her fifteenth birthday approaching soon. Clothed in a blue Chinese outfit with oversized white sleeves and royal blue shorts, one of her favorites, she absentmindedly tossed her long auburn hair over her shoulders. Sincere brown eyes were focused on the boy in front of her as she answered, "Thanks back! Hey, tell me, where were you?"

"Nowhere…" he replied, throwing a look at Erika, who was waving to a few of her fellow students.

"Ohh…" she nodded slightly.

The teenage girl wondered if where her boyfriend went had something to do with their shared…special abilities. Quickly scanning over his lean figure, she realized that he seemed taller and a little more muscular than the last time she'd seen him; Uriko suddenly remembered that her boyfriend was fifteen now. As his bangs bobbed freely in front of his face, she noticed a hint of blue in his dark black hair. Curious brown eyes with a light of orange in them looked back at her as he asked, "What are you staring at?" 

"Did you dye your hair?" was her reply.

"Oh, that…um, no… I was just outside a lot…this summer." Kenji told her, glancing at Erika in precaution as he said that. Luckily, she was conversing with someone else.

Suddenly, the bell rang, startling the two. As Uriko was about to leave, she leaned close to him and whispered, "Tell me later?"

"Okay…lunch or after school, whenever I next see you." he answered and they started to part ways.

"Hey, wait!" she called out.

Kenji came to a stop. "Yeah?"

Uriko smiled and held out her arms. "Hug?"

He smiled back. "Sure, sorry I forgot to give one to you earlier." 

The couple embraced tightly, and then Erika tapped her best friend's shoulder. "Um, I don't mean to interrupt or anything…but Uriko, we gotta get to class!"

Uriko frowned as Kenji said, "Darn it, don't you wish summer vacation hadn't ended yet?"

"Yeah," she agreed. "Well, see you later, okay?"

"Bye," he waved and ran off to his first period, which was in the opposite direction of Uriko and Erika's class.

"You two look so cute together!" Erika commented as she and Uriko started walking across the quad.

Giggling, her best friend said, "Thanks, I hope so!"

The two girls talked while pushing and shoving their way through the crowds in the hall; it was just like last year, an enormous traffic of disgruntled students rushing around. It was easy to tell who were freshmen-they had lost looks on their faces-and who were upperclassmen-the ones who seemed to be confident in their position at the school. The best friends groaned when they finally reached their room at the end of one wing.

"Oh well, here goes nothing…" Erika remarked dryly with a heavy sigh as she stepped through the door.

"School is hell," Uriko commented, quietly because she usually didn't swear, and rolled her eyes as she trailed after her friend.

*****

"I don't see why we can't just go and kill them right now. That takes the fun out of it." A bored voice stated.

"Remember, if they don't do it, we get to finish them off." The partner assured, a sly smile spreading over his lips.

"What are we supposed to do first?"

"Hit them where they're weak."

"Damn…that simple…? They're nothing but our pathetic 'significant others', but…well, fine."

"Good luck to you," the companion grinned wickedly and vanished into thin air, showing off his skills.

"Don't worry about me," his partner replied silently after he'd went away, darting away to their own target.

*****

"Where is he?"

"Maybe he got stuck after class…?" Erika suggested, looking sympathetically at her friend.

__

It's been about thirty minutes…Kenji is more than just a "little" late… Uriko thought as she stood waiting by the bike racks, starting to feel a bit irritated despite the okay day she'd had.

"Um, I guess I'll just head off by myself," she said finally.

"I'll walk you partway," Erika offered.

Uriko smiled. "Thanks. Oh, by the way, where's Ryan Scheller been these days?"

"You didn't hear? He went to the other high school," the dark-haired girl grumbled.

"Oh…" her best friend said softly as she cast her eyes down on the floor. "Then we're rivals now…"

"Yeah…that sucks, doesn't it?" Erika frowned.

"Sorry…"

"It's okay. Hey, what's our homework in Trig tonight?" she asked as the girls were nearing her house, changing the subject. "I forgot to write it down in class." 

The brown-haired teenager hesitated. "Um…let me check." 

She bent down to look into her backpack and Erika crouched down beside her. After a few minutes of shuffling, Uriko grabbed one of her smaller binders and opened it while saying, "Ah, here it is…"

As she flipped through the pages, a folded up piece of paper slipped out and fell onto the floor. "…Hey? What's this?" She looked at it curiously, then set down her binder and opened the note. Scrawled inside was:

__

Do you know your true enemy? 

"What the…?" the student murmured questioningly while staring at the paper as if the answer would suddenly appear before her. _This looks like…Kenji's handwriting…why would he send me something like this?_

"Hey, what's that?" Erika asked, pointing at the note.

"O-oh, nothing…nothing…" her friend replied quickly and tucked it into her pocket. She took out her homework agenda and thrusted it into the other girl's hands.

Erika took out a pen and wrote it on her hand. Giving the agenda back to Uriko, she said, "Um, thanks…you sure you're okay?"

"Uh huh…"

"…Well, I'm turning off here, so I'll see ya tomorrow, k?"

"Okay, bye, Erika." Uriko said, her eyebrows frowned in thought. Her best friend shot her a strange look, but waved and turned down the corner, leaving Uriko by herself.

__

Huh…this must be a joke…yeah, that's it, it's just a prank. The lone girl decided. _Still…I have a weird feeling about this…_ She shook her head in dismay and continued home in silence.

*****

"Hey, Kenji!!"

At the sound of his name, he jerked his head toward the direction of the voice, and frowned slightly at the sight of Uriko running to him. Another day of school had passed, and he was unlocking his bike when she called out to him. It wasn't that he didn't want to see her, his mind was just pondering over what he'd gotten yesterday. 

__

Are you sure you're fighting on the right side? Was what he'd read in Uriko's neat writing from a small sheet of paper. 

He'd found that in his backpack, as he was about to get on his bike after being preoccupied when school had let out. Confused by what the message had meant, Kenji dismissed it as some stupid joke a classmate of his was playing and threw the note away; but the nagging feeling he'd gotten while reading it hadn't gone away.

Turning his attention to his girlfriend who had just caught up to him, Kenji gave her a faint smile and greeted, "Hi Uriko."

Strangely, he noticed that she keeping her distance; the teenage girl glanced at him meaningfully as she asked casually, "So…what were you up yesterday? Like, after school…?"

"Nothing much… Sorry for not showing up, I was kind of…busy."

"With…what?"

"No reason," Kenji answered quickly, concentrating on jamming his key into the lock of the thick bar holding his bike. He didn't want to tell her about the juniors that had cornered him in an area of the school and gave him a rough time, or that he'd beaten them all up practically without effort. Summer training with Yugo had really helped him fight more swiftly and put more force into his attacks.

"Erika and I were waiting for you," Uriko continued, giving him a sideways glance. "After waiting about half an hour, we decided to go off on our own."

"I apologize about that."

"…How about a ride today?" she asked almost shyly.

"Sure, whatever." He replied, getting on his bike. Gingerly, as if he or the bike was delicate, she climbed on after him; while she was doing so, the black-haired student asked, "Did you…leave something for me in my backpack yesterday?"

She stiffened. "No…"

Wondering why she was sounding so faint, he shrugged it off, deciding not to question her further and they rode off the campus.

*****

****


	2. Default Chapter Title

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Bloody Roar II: Unwanted Betrayal

Part 2

A mischievous grin was on his face. "Perfect, they're starting to doubt each other. Now, the next step our master requests-"

"-Is to rile it up further with them, rising the suspicion, correct?"

The pleased grin grew wider. "Yes."

"This should be entertaining, don't you think? Although it'd be better if we had it our way…"

"Be patient," he snapped. "You and I will get our fun."

"We'd better. I hate doing the easy, dirty work; you and I deserve more than that."

"Shhh!" the male hissed. "Don't let our master hear you!"

"Whatever, I'm gonna go find my little ingrate of a 'partner'." 

He sneered and waved his companion good-bye.

*****

"Where'd he go _this_ time?"

Uriko shrugged in response to her best friend's question, the strap of her heavy backpack cutting into her shoulder. "I don't know, Vegas? We should just leave."

It was two weeks after school had started, and the young student had met her boyfriend on and off during the time. Usually, he'd shown up at the racks, but not lately; Erika was supportive in the beginning, but even **her** patience was thinning out.

She agreed. "Okay, let's split." They started walking away from Kenji's bike. "Man, you two haven't been keeping in contact, huh?" she asked after a couple moments of silence.

"Nope," her friend stated bluntly.

"Trouble in paradise?"

"…I'm not sure," Uriko replied seriously, a bit of concern in her voice. Her eyes narrowed involuntarily as she thought about the additional, 'cute little messages' she'd received in the last couple of days.

__

You do not know what you're up against, one of them had said. The other, _Resistance is futile…so don't fight it…_ Again, they had both appeared like Kenji's handwriting.

She stopped. "I should've known this was gonna happen someday." 

__

I…I guess we don't have a strong enough bond between us even with our shared childhood and promise… the girl thought a bit sadly. 

Erika glanced at her friend in caring sympathy; neither of the two noticed the shadow behind the girls that was growing bigger as it neared them. Uriko looked around their surroundings as they trudged down the street. She stopped with a frown when she spotted an area nearby her darkening, and seeing that Erika was beside her, she quickly turned her head to peer to her right.

"Oh, it's just Kenji. Hi." Uriko said emotionlessly to the still-standing figure in a dark blue outfit with a white scarf wrapped around his neck and shot a knowing look at Erika.

With a chilling look on his face, Kenji stepped up to the two and swiftly snatched up his girlfriend's school bag, tossing it away. The blue denim backpack flew a few feet away and some of the contents inside spilled out onto the rocky ground. Startled, her eyes widened and she grabbed her best friend's arm, jumping up from their previous spot. Gazing strangely at him, Uriko asked, "What the heck was that for??"

Not answering, he turned his attention on Erika and the girl shrunk back uncomfortably. Starting to get a bad feeling, Uriko opened her mouth to question him further, but before she could say anything, he leapt at Erika and began to beat her in the face. A scream burst out of her mouth as she and Kenji both fell to the floor; her best friend cried out, "Erika!!!"

Recovering from her element of surprise, Uriko dashed at the two and yanked her boyfriend away. She knelt next to Erika and gave her a reassuring hug as well as a shaky, apologetic look. Turning to Kenji, she demanded to know, "Hey! What's the matter with you?!"

Very slowly, he smiled evilly as his eyes took on a frightening shade of ebony black. 

"Pay attention to my warnings, because you're too weak to defeat me…" was his reply. He made a few strange twirls with his fingers, and disappeared right before their eyes; a brown log flashed briefly where he was standing and went away as well.

"W-what the hell was that about??" Uriko asked rhetorically, helping her friend stand up. Just then, she thought worriedly, _Oh no, what if he's been brainwashed **again**?_

"Damn that stupid, frickin' psycho, Busuzima," she swore under her breath.

"U-Uriko?" Erika said, her voice slightly trembling.

"Oh, Keri…" Uriko murmured as she used her best friend's nickname in reassurance, biting her lip while saying that.

"I-is he crazy?!" Erika blurted out almost hysterically, her fingers shaking as she slowly brushed back the hair drooping in her face caused by the encounter.

Her eyes narrowed into small slits. "No, but he's gonna go bonkers after I'm through with him!"

"I-we should go…now…"

"Are you gonna tell anyone about this?"

"Should I?"

Uriko paused, then placed a hand on her friend's shivering shoulder. "…No. Erika, leave it to me, okay? You can trust me."

"A-alright…"

_Oh, he is definitely gonna be confronted about this…I am so gonna hurt him…_ The fourteen-year-old thought bitterly as she watched Erika slowly walk down her street.

*****

"I don't like my assignment; he's too easy as a suspect." A voice complained with an irritated frown.

"Well…'she' is going to do something, so don't freak," the other person said, throwing out an intense stare.

"You'd better make sure of that…" replied the companion.

"After that…?"

"Assuming they don't destroy themselves, we move in for the kill."

*****

His hazy brown eyes were seeing red.

And that hadn't occurred in a long time.

As Kenji angrily stalked to his bike from sixth period, his mind was filled with thoughts of pure surprise and anger combined.

_I better find her…_

Hastily, he retrieved his vehicle and left the school, with two free days of the weekend up ahead. As he furiously pedaled down the path leading toward home, his long black bangs whipped his forehead. A harsh wind picked up and dark clouds gathered above, not enlightening Kenji's violent mood at all. Still, his anger turned transformed into a strange, nagging feeling as the intense male teenager sped past the crowds of students. A mere few moments later, he caught sight of the back of a slim, brown-haired girl walking down the street alone and light maroon started flashing in his eyesight again.

"Hey!!" Kenji yelled out gruffly.

The girl turned around and when she saw who had called to her, she scowled and looked away.

"I know you heard me, Uriko!" He growled in reply and biked up beside her. 

Before he could say anything else, she faced him stubbornly as she tightened her hold on the rough strap of her school bag. Holding up her fists and looking at him with determination sketched in her wide brown eyes, she blurted out, "Go away, you've done enough damage. Erika's still shaky after you attacked her!"

"What?!" Kenji braked his bike to a stop, shocked by the accusation. "You're the one that pounced on me yesterday while I was on my way home!"

"Huh?? I was walking my best friend home; what are you talking about, that's pure bullshit!!" she shrieked, surprising the both of them, since she was well-known for her calm temper and rarely swore when talking to him.

"I know it was you yesterday, with your green outfit and long white sleeves!"

"Master Long gave me a **blue** Chinese outfit; I don't own a green one!" she shot back defiantly.

"Tsk, tsk, how delightful…" a voice from behind the arguing couple commented.

"Then who was that I saw-" Kenji started to yell, but stopped and asked his girlfriend, "…Hey, who was that?"

Uriko was looking in another direction, her warm brown eyes widened in astonishment. Confused, he turned toward where she was looking and was startled by the sight; he instantly jumped off his bike.

Standing in front of the students were two teenagers around their age, but what was shocking was that they looked exactly like them! Uriko wordlessly stared at her double. The resemblance was stunning; the girls had the same body figure, eyes, hair. The only noticeable difference was that Uriko coincidentally wore her royal blue Chinese outfit that day, and her twin's clothes were like hers, only instead, it had a deep shade of green. Plus, the sleeves were shorter. The other brown-haired girl smirked at Uriko's reaction and grinned at her partner, who was carefully inspecting Kenji.

The ninjas looked cautiously at each other, weariness in their eyes; Kenji made sure to keep his body a good distance away. His twin had the same appearance, with the exception of the sleeveless blue shirt and pants that he was wearing, and the breezy white scarf wrapped around his neck. Kenji swore under his breath, cursing the fact that he looked like his twin, since he had on his own yellow outfit; his matching red scarf was in his backpack. The other difference between the two sets of twins was that Uriko and Kenji still had their normal brown eyes, whereas their doubles both had malicious, blood red ones.

Breaking the silence, he and Uriko chorused in unison: "And who the heck are you??"

The opposition laughed a frightening sound that sent a chill down the spines of the couple standing across from them.

"I'm the real Uriko," the female introduced, sneering at the confused fourteen-year-old girl.

"Y-you are not!" Uriko shouted angrily, glaring at her double.

"I will be, after I eliminate you, pathetic 'sister' of mine!" her twin shouted with total confidence in her voice.

Not fully aware of what she'd just said, Uriko yelled back, "Why you-! The closest person I have to a sister isn't you, so keep your mouth shut!"

"And who are you, her lap dog?" Kenji said, looking disgustedly at the other dark-haired boy.

"Oh, don't worry, I didn't take my name after you, _wimp_," his twin declared. "People refer to me as Bakuryu."

"Nothing but a wannabe," Kenji murmured angrily.

"Copy-cat," Uriko retorted at her fake self while thinking, _Hmm, that's kinda ironic, since we probably **do** both have cat beast forms…_ "What do you want anyway?"

"For a girl who seems like me, you're not very bright." Came the girl's sardonic reply.

"Shut up!" Kenji defended his girlfriend, briefly forgetting that they had been fighting not too long ago.

"Don't get in the middle of their cat fight; you and I have something to take care of ourselves," Bakuryu informed him, fixing a steely gaze at his opponent.

Uriko looked at him with a frown. "What do you mean 'cat fight'? I'm not fighting a weirdo like her!"

Her twin shrugged. "Oh well, it'd be easier for me to kill you that way."

"Uh…excuse me?" The young couple said together, stepping away from the two creepy teens.

"It's our master's wish, and we willingly intend to oblige." The Uriko twin answered matter-of-factly.

"That is seriously full of shit," Kenji remarked.

_Kenji dear…you've really been hanging around Yugo too long…_ Uriko thought toward his profanity, managing a quiet chuckle.

"What're you snickering for, girl?" Bakuryu questioned menacingly.

"I'm surprised that you two are so…brainless, following orders like that." She said, ignoring his question. "Who's your master, that pervert Busuzima?"

Kenji glanced at his girlfriend in admiration her for standing up to their enemies. She happened to look his way and caught his eye, then gave him a shaky smile.

"Silence! That's none of your business!" Uriko's twin seethed and immediately charged at her. When she was only a few inches away, the red-eyed female jumped slightly off the ground and thrusted her fist foreword, knocking her enemy forcefully in her jaw. Wincing, Uriko fell onto the floor, her backpack faintly protecting her back from the rocky ground. 

"Uriko!!" Kenji cried out worriedly, and started running to her side. Unfortunately, he didn't notice that his own opponent had launched his own attack. He performed his "Smoke Bomb" tech, appeared right in front of Kenji, and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. The villain lifted the black-haired boy up into the air, and smirked as he prevented him from getting to Uriko. "Going somewhere?"

Thankfully recovering quickly, his girlfriend flung her backpack away as she leapt up into a standing position. Deciding to try out one of the new moves she had learned over the summer, Uriko ran headfirst into her twin, knocking the feeble girl into ground. As she stumbled to get up, the sophomore student grabbed her arm and swung her around multiple times, then flung her onto the lawn in front of a nearby residence's house.

Meanwhile, Kenji was still suspended in the air, and he didn't like it. He clutched Bakuryu's shoulders with both hands and threw him over his head, at the same time both freeing himself and injuring his enemy. Furious that he'd escaped, the blue-clothed teenager darted at his double and tried to kick him in the face. Back-flipping away, Kenji unknowingly hopped onto the top of a car and jumped off after his opponent followed.

Several yards away, Uriko hung back, one fist raised in front of her face and the other hanging behind her head, knees slightly bent in her fighting stance. As soon as her clone stood up she gritted her teeth, awaiting the first move. The fake Uriko rushed at her and very briefly paused in front of the girl. She quickly reared her arms back, and then pushed them foreword while yelling, "Fire!" 

Red sparks began shooting out from the palm of her hands and soon, a heated blast engulfed Uriko. The shocked girl let out a scream of pain as she was thrown back, and her skin burned. Her heartless twin followed the fiery tech by lifting the young student up and smirking at her. 

"Pathetic!" the girl spat at Uriko and punched her hard and squarely in the face. Whispering a hoarse, "K-Kenji…" as she was viciously slammed into a stiff metal pole, her head and back connecting especially hard with it. Uttering a choked gasp for breath, an injured Uriko collapsed to the floor, and blood began leaking out from her bruised mouth.

All of a sudden noticing a lot of movement and hearing a voice very faintly call out his name, Kenji jerked his head toward the direction of the sound. Upon spotting his girlfriend laying still on the ground in her condition and the slight trail of blood appearing on the street, his eyes widened and he screamed in a deafening tone of voice, "_Uriko!!!_" When she didn't move or even twitch, he sprinted to her, vaguely noticing the opposition's attempts of trying to stop him. All he could concentrate on was her unconscious figure; after all, she had saved him twice before, and now it was his turn to repay the debt.

When he reached her, Kenji carefully hugged her unmoving body to his, cradling her as gently as he could, uncaring of his own wounds, or the fact that her blood was beginning to stain his yellow clothing. His shaky hand went to her wrist to feel for a pulse; Uriko had a faint one, and the male ninja could also tell that she wasn't breathing very comfortably by the way she was wheezing. Her pleasant face had gone white, almost as pale as her sleeves and her body felt very limp, eerily appearing death-like.

He trembled violently in fear of the severity of her injuries as his eyes filled with water and tears of sorrow and anguish trickled down from them, cooling his burned cheeks. Ignoring his tears, Kenji slowly stood, clutching his girlfriend in his strong arms with one hand supporting her head and the other holding her slender legs up.

Before doing his "Smoke Bomb" move to transport them away, Kenji glared at the fake Uriko, pure hatred burning in his narrowed brown eyes. "I'll kill you for doing this." he threatened as he, the unconscious girl, and their belongings lying on the street vanished.

*****

"Dammit!! We didn't finish them off!" An upset Bakuryu swore later, grinding his sneakered foot into a nearby stack of cartons.

"Speak for yourself!" The fake Uriko retorted snottily. "If you had taken care of **your** assignment, then the girl would've had no chance of surviving!"

"She wouldn't have, if you'd beat her up brutally enough!"

Growling fiercely, she screeched, "Just drop it! When's the next time we're gonna encounter them?!"

"Anytime they show their faces…" her partner replied, a menacing look in his maroon colored pupils. 

*****


	3. Default Chapter Title

****

Bloody Roar II: Unwanted Betrayal

Part 3

_Damn those freakin' assholes! Damn them to hell!_

A totally enraged Kenji repeatedly threw his fists into the stone wall before him. It had been several hours after the brutal fight, and the afternoon had turned into nighttime. The dark-haired boy was currently in the backyard of Uriko's house, taking out his dangerously explosive anger by punching the wall and frequently cursing him and Uriko's new enemies. Over and over, the image of the battered girl flashed in his mind; that made him feel tortured.

After a horrified Mitsuko Nonomura had seen her daughter in the beat-up stage, Kenji somberly told her what had happened. Uriko's mother immediately motioned him to set the girl down on the couch and nursed her wounds, and then she called up Yugo Ohgami and his girlfriend, Alice Tsukagami (Nonomura). Both of them had promised to come over shortly after nightfall. Currently, Uriko was still unconscious, but according to Mitsuko, she felt the same faint pulse in her wrist that the young ninja had.

Kenji finally stopped pounding the wall when he noticed that his knuckles were starting to look red. Glancing down disapproving at them, he thrusted his hands in his pockets and went back into the house to be greeted by hushed whispers coming from the kitchen, next to the living room where Uriko was resting. Kneeling beside her, the young student stared mournfully at her still figure, bandages covered up by the thin blanket placed upon her. Subconsciously, his shaky hands traveled lightly across her body and grasped her hand tightly, wincing slightly at the coolness of it.

_It doesn't look like she's even still alive…_ Kenji thought bitterly. _Uriko…don't die…not when you haven't even reached your fifteenth birthday…_

"Is it that serious…?" a concerned voice was faintly heard by him. 

He felt disgusted at their attitude as he replied silently, his words coated with sarcastic passion, _No; it's not serious, even though Uriko looks like she's freaking dead! But no, her condition's not that serious at all!_

"Uriko…" her name slipped out of his mouth before he realized what he'd said. "Whatever happens, don't leave…" he pleaded softly.

Kenji lowered his head and rested it gently in the middle of her chest, listening to her heart beat rhythmically. Squeezing his eyes shut as tears once again began trickling out of them; he held tightly onto her hand and just lay there, the pounding of her heart strangely sounding soothing to him. 

_She can't go…she doesn't know that I love her…_

At that previous thought, Kenji's head suddenly popped up from atop her chest, his own heart beginning to pound at his silent confession. 

_I what…?_

"I love her," Kenji realized in a soft tone of voice. "But that's impossible…" _I'm not capable of those emotions! …Am I?_

Just as he thought he felt her hand twitch slightly, a low gasp was heard at his admittance. He turned his head to look behind him and scowled quietly when he saw Mitsuko, Yugo, and Alice under the doorway leading into the kitchen.

"…Yes?" Kenji asked his audience a bit harshly.

"Kenji…" Alice started to say, but trailed off, deciding not to comment on his public confession. The blue-haired woman bit her lip as she looked sympathetically at the teenager.

"She's going to be okay," Yugo finished for her, his buff features softening at the sight of his torn younger 'brother'. "Uriko just needs rest; we really should get going."

"I'm staying." Kenji stated bluntly, the tone in his voice not leaving any room for negotiation.

Yugo looked at him sternly and opened his mouth to argue, but Mitsuko shook her head and mouthed, "It's alright, he can stay." Shaking his head, the muscular twenty-three year old thanked her and turned to leave. After Alice gave her 'mother' a tight hug, the two women followed Yugo out of the room; Kenji and Uriko were left alone. 

"They say you're gonna be all right," he whispered to his girlfriend with a weak smile. "So when will you wake up? When will you ever get to go outside and bask in the rays of sunlight, running around with that caring aura of yours emitting from you?" Grumbling in frustration, Kenji thought in slight amusement, _Hrmp, if Uriko was conscious, she'd probably comment on how 'corny' my statement is, just like a few months back…_

"Uhh…" a soft moan that came from her lips was her response.

"!"

"Pain…ow…" Uriko groaned as her eyes started fluttering open.

"Uriko!"

"W-who?" she whimpered, shutting her eyes as she remarked, "Too tired…"

Shifting to hold her hand between both of his, Kenji smiled in relief and told her eagerly. "This is Kenji; are you okay?"

Her face scrunched up in a grimace as she tried to sit up.

"Uh uh, stay down," her boyfriend ordered gently as he shook his head in disapproval.

"My head hurts…" The fourteen-year-old girl complained weakly. "…And my back."

His expression tightened while he muttered, "That little she-devil…"

"…What'd you call me?" she looked at him, her eyes once shining with her energetic attitude, now appeared tired and stormy; she also looked confused.

"Not you," he assured her quickly. "Our twin brother and sister, Wannabe-Ninja and Copy-cat."

She chuckled. "You made a joke…"

"…Uh huh…and why is that funny?" he inquired curiously.

"You're usually very serious,"

"But I've loosened up, right? It's not like I've never laughed." Kenji grinned. "I remember how you got me to smile the first time I gave you a ride home last year; you were all yelling in my ear while I was pedaling."

"Yeah…uhh…sorry about that…" Uriko let out a dry cough.

"It's okay…"

"…So what am I gonna do about my double?" she asked while stubbornly lifting herself up into a sitting position on the couch; deciding to assist her rather than argue, Kenji let go of her hand and stuck a few pillows behind her to support her aching back.

"I don't know," he answered after Uriko looked a little more comfortable. The black-haired teenager didn't tell her about him making that dark promise of killing her glamorous twin. The couple glanced at each other and wordlessly leaned in together in a gentle embrace.

"We need to ask Mother and Yugo for help," she murmured finally, hugging her boyfriend as tight as she could manage with her still-recovering arms.

"What do you mean 'we'?" Kenji asked shrilly.

"We gotta wipe out those suckers." She replied matter-of-factly.

"Not you, no way," he shook his head forcefully and his long bangs swiveled around his forehead. "I can take care of them by himself; you need rest." Uriko smiled faintly and reached her hand up to gently touch his cheek. 

"Thanks for the concern, but if I could take on Jenny, Master Long, Shina, Stun, you, Busuzima, twice with Shenlong, and still get out okay, then I can beat my dear 'twin sister'." She replied convincingly as she named off all the people that she had to fight in order to rescue her mother a little while back.

He raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, you got a good point there."

Uriko stifled a yawn as she lazily shut her eyes, her long black lashes clashing gently with her bottom eyelid. 

"Oh…sorry if I'm bothering you. Tired?" Kenji asked with concern; he could see signs of tiredness in the depth of her cloudy brown eyes.

"A little bit…"

"Uh, I'll leave you alone then…" 

"Are you…sleeping overnight?" she questioned.

Her boyfriend nodded and informed, "Yes. Oh, in case you want to know, Yugo and Alice were here earlier."

"Thanks…"

"I'll see you in the morning then," the fifteen-year-old boy got up.

"Kenji…"

"Yeah?"

"Stay with me till I go to sleep…please?" she asked timidly.

Her boyfriend smiled. "Sure, I want to look out for you." _Especially since I failed to do that earlier…_

"I appreciate that, thanks, although don't think I'm some kinda damsel-in-distress!" Uriko said with determination as a grin spread over her face.

"Hey, I don't," Kenji assured. "You're one of the most strong-willed people I know."

She sighed. "Always suave with your words…"

"I guess I'll take that as a compliment…" he answered wryly. "Now, go to sleep, okay…?"

"'Night," the sleepy young student said to him before closing her eyes.

The male ninja leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, then settled back into his crouching position. As she began to breathe more evenly, Kenji took her hand and once again kept it in between the two of his, the softness of her skin caressing his rough palm when he held on more tightly.

*****

"…Are you sure we should be doing this so soon?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Don't worry, I feel a lot better."

"After barely forty-eight hours?" her boyfriend asked somewhat incredulously.

"Mmmhmm," Uriko assured him, even while a groan escaped her mouth as she was standing up to go to her room and change.

"Uriko…"

"No, really, I'm okay!" she said as cheerfully as she could while walking out of the living room and ascending up the stairs. Following behind her, the couple reached the top and started going down the hall; upon reaching her room, the brown-haired girl said, "Besides, we gotta get rid of them ASAP, right?"

"Still…are you absolutely sure?" he repeated as they stepped inside.

"I feel well enough, I can do it," she told him, although his question brought a worried frown to her face as she pulled out another one of her favorite outfits from her dresser. 

"Well…I'll have to take your word for it," Kenji said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Looking distracted, Uriko subconsciously began tugging her elbows loose of her sweater, getting ready to yank it over her head. Suddenly remembering her companion, she stopped and giggled, feeling self-consciousness. "Uh…you're gonna watch me change?"

He blushed fiercely and immediately stepped outside, quickly shutting the door. 

"I, I'm sorry about that…" The teenage boy apologized as soon as she went back outside a few minutes later.

Pink flush was decked along her cheeks. "It's okay, I don't mind since I know you didn't do it on purpose."

He smiled and said nervously, "Y-you look nice,"

"Thanks," she replied just as timidly. 

The female sophomore was now dressed in mainly white, with blue and gold trimmings along the edges of her clothing. Her outfit made her seem like she was going to a gym, with her short, sleeveless top, the shirt slightly exposing her bare belly. Covering the upper portion of her legs was a pair of white shorts, the fabric ending a couple of inches above her knees. What she was wearing wasn't really her choice of style, but she figured it would be more comfortable to fight in. Usually Uriko let her silky brown hair hang loose, but at the moment, she had it tied up in a tight ponytail behind her head. The long bangs of hers still dangled in front of her face though; she kinda preferred that.

Kenji had the opportunity of changing as well, since Yugo had stopped by earlier that morning and dropped off a small bag of clothes for him. He'd gone into the bathroom and reemerged in a gray shirt, also without sleeves like Uriko's top. His lower body was snug in matching gray pants, and to top the outfit off, Kenji had wrapped a black scarf around his neck.

"Yeah, I understand…man, are you a superhuman or something, recovering that fast?"

"Hey, we both somewhat are…" she answered seriously. Her fingers curved into a clawing position while she playfully hissed and pretended to scratch his arm.

"Okay, calm down, kitty." He joked with a grin as the couple walked down the stairs and neared the door leading outside of Uriko's house.

"See you later, Mother!" She called out before they left, and then turned to Kenji and managed to shoot back teasingly, "You should talk, mole boy."

"Grrrr…" he growled, although he wasn't really mad at her remark; what she said was true, after all.

Watching from afar, a hushed voice whispered, "Hrmp, they've got more guts than I thought."

"Looks like she's still alive." Her partner taunted.

"Shut up Bakuryu," she hissed.

"It's not my fault you screwed up," came his arrogant reply.

She tossed her hair back, an irritated expression on her face. "Whatever, let's just get them…"

Waiting for their opponents to appear, Uriko and Kenji continued conversing lightly, although there was a slight edge of nervousness in their voice. 

"Think our new techniques will help? I mean, the first couple of them are okay, but the others…" the young girl whispered to her boyfriend out of the corner of her mouth. She'd finally found out that Kenji had been training in the summer like she had and the two of them planned to use them in the next battle.

"I hope so…" he replied.

Just as he was saying that, they heard a swift, swishing sound, and the quiet landing of two light-weighted figures. Practically expecting it, Uriko and Kenji whirled around and took several steps back; an emotionless was both of the teen's faces as they eyed the people standing before them.

"At least they didn't catch us by surprise this time," Uriko remarked in a low murmur to her boyfriend.

"Right." He replied quickly, looking coolly at the clones.

"Well, isn't that a warm greeting." The fake Uriko commented, her words coated with sarcasm.

The other brown-haired girl glared silently at her while saying, "Let's cut the meaningless chit-chat." Getting ready to fight, she thrusted her fist out at her enemy, then retracted it and twirled around in a full circle to land into her battle stance. Next to her, Kenji back-flipped almost effortlessly and flipped the scarf behind him to the back of his head. To the couple's annoyance, their doubles copied their movements, smirking while they were doing so.

"Brainless lowlifes," Uriko retorted irritatingly at the two opponents, her words again shocking herself and Kenji since they were both used to her kind language and milder temper. The existence of her twin and the fact that she'd gotten so brutally beaten really agitated the sophomore student.

"Look who's talking," was Bakuryu's chilly reply.

Without warning, Kenji growled and quickly ran foreword. After he leapt into the air, he let out a loud, "Kee-yah!" and kicked his twin in the chest. 

Fortunately, the fake Uriko jerked her head to glance back at her partner and while she wasn't paying attention, her opponent took advantage of that. Before she could remember whom _she _was fighting, the other brown-haired girl put a determined look on her face and tried out one of her new techs. Sneaking up behind her still-distracted double, Uriko kicked her in the back three consecutive times, then delivered a hard uppercut blow; she made the other girl fly across the sidewalk and crash to a landing.

Her jaw set, the angry twin glared at Uriko as she wiped the blood away from the corner of her mouth, not even noticing that it was staining the white sleeves of her otherwise-green outfit. Without even murmuring any threats, she darted foreword; her opponent could tell that she was trying to execute her "Fire!" technique, which was unfortunate for the red-eyed girl.

_Time for new tech #2…_ she decided hastily.

Just as her clone was rearing her arms backwards, Uriko raised her hands over her head and concentrated silently, before thrusting her clenched fists at her enemy and shouting, "Ice!" Little gusts of chilly wind wrapped around the twin, startling her out of the unfinished Fire tech as blue sparks began emitting from Uriko's hands. Forming into solid, they flew through the air and jabbed into her double, then vanished as quickly as they had appeared. The person hit by the icicles grimaced as she was forced back a few steps from the attack. Countering that, she sprinted at Uriko and kicked at her shin, morphing into her beast form while doing so.

_So we're doing beast forms,_ Uriko thought. _Mother and Kenji probably wouldn't want me to do this, but…_

She spun around with her arms outstretched and knocked her twin away, morphing as well; reappearing in the animal figure of a gray, tiger-striped cat with vicious teeth and sharp claws. Confident with her tremendous advantage in agility and armed with way better attacking force than back when she'd saved mother, Uriko's temporary red eyes focused on her fake mirror self.

"Grrowl!" the clone challenged, scratching angrily at the air.

"Mmrrowll!" was Uriko's reply.

Fighting not too far away from them, Kenji heard the familiar noise and turned to spot his girlfriend morph and see the girls hissing at each other in their cat forms.

_She shouldn't have morphed, not in her condition!_ He thought, feeling concerned about her.

While he was looking away, Bakuryu managed to sneak a double kick attack on him and he tried to jump out of the way. Realizing his mistake too late, Kenji cursed under his breath as his twin leapt into the air as well and grabbed him by the waist. Spinning his victim around so that he was upside down and pointed toward the floor, the evil clone cruelly slammed Kenji roughly into the ground. At the last minute, the brown-eyed ninja twisted his head toward one side and instead received the harsh blow to his shoulder.

_Damn it, I'm beginning to think that morphing might be a good idea…_ Kenji thought with a groan as he tumbled on the rocky sidewalk. Glancing around the neighborhood and making sure that no one was around, he quickly hopped up, closing his eyes and clasped his hands together at the middle of his chest while his body spun around. Aggression and a bit of bloodlust quickly took on the young student's instincts as a wave hit his opponent and a large brown mole emerged with narrowed red eyes. Fortunately for Kenji, he had good speed, strength, and tricky technique moves on his side; that thought in his mind, he somewhat appeared to smile in his inhuman form.

Out of the corner of her eye, Uriko subconsciously noticed that her boyfriend had transformed. Remembering the new techs they had earlier planned to use, she eyed her double momentarily, then left her and ran over to Kenji's side. Realizing that it was his cue, he refrained from attacking his opponent and gestured for her to make the first move. Hissing viciously, she dashed at Bakuryu and grabbed him by the arm, twirling him around several times before tossing him to her partner. Upon nearing Kenji, the brown furred mole hit him multiple times, then finally knocked him forcefully into the air with his huge claws. 

Uriko gritted her teeth and jumped up; performing one of her moves for the first time while briefly suspended above ground. She punched the helpless boy numerous times, then kicked him a few times, the last hard blow making him fly straight toward her twin, that calculating as a new, eighteen-hit combo of Uriko's. Smiling triumphantly, yet shakily, she came to a smooth landing next to Kenji while they watched Bakuryu crash into the fake Uriko.

"Sshhleee, – (Maybe we should go,) -" came out of Kenji's mole mouth as he gave his girlfriend a sideways glance. 

"Mrrowll. – (Good idea.) -" Was her mewing reply. Even though they couldn't acknowledge or comprehend the different way of communication, the couple still understood each other. Suddenly, she remembered. "Mew…roowlll – (Rage move…) -"

Uncomfortably pushing aside their guilt, the two of them rushed up to their enemies in unison. The fake Uriko got out from under her partner and the two of them stood separate from each other, looking at the couple with pure hatred.

_Double Inferno,_ Kenji said silently to himself after pausing to a stop. Almost mechanically, he shot by Bakuryu while flames came from him, burning the opponent. As the mole stopped and clasped his claws together, deeply concentrating, hoards of fire poured in from invisible areas, piercing the victim standing in the middle. Finally, Kenji's figure appeared to split up into two ghastly images, and they slashed Bakuryu harshly, the attack forming an "X". Returning to his human form, the black-haired teenager wound up behind his clone and he looked back at the fallen Bakuryu somewhat pitifully.

_That's weird, I usually get a rush of adrenaline after doing my rage move, but now, I feel bad…_ He thought a little bitterly.

Several feet over, Uriko and her twin had their maroon-colored eyes locked onto each other, neither of them faltering at the 'staring contest'. 

_Gotta distract her, gotta distract her…but how?_ Uriko pondered. Then, she had an idea. 

She strutted up to her double with fake superiority, her claws slashing at the air as her arms swung back and forth. The mirror image hissed and scrunched down, then pounced at her, paws extended to scratch Uriko at her head. Ignoring the attack, the fourteen-year-old jumped over the other girl and landing behind her, kicking both feet at her back and knocked her foe some distance away. 

__

Surprise Cat Pounce, Uriko told herself, starting to perform her rage move. She leapt on top of her twin's head and curled the both of them up into an energy ball of sizzling electricity. She tossed herself and her victim roughly against the street; numerous light poles, and lastly, at a brick wall of separating two residences' houses. Ending the tech, Uriko made her clone connect with the ground, while she landed a little further away and stood up dazedly as a "Whoooaa…" escaped her mouth. 

Shaking her head carefully, the now brown-eyed girl glanced down at the fake and suddenly felt her legs slightly wobble in guilt. Deciding not to fight against it, she willingly stumbled to a fall; Kenji caught up beside his girlfriend and wrapped his arms around her in a caring hug.

"I-I wanna go now…" Uriko whispered, wrenching her face away from the two battered teens.

"S-so do I," he replied as his gaze fell upon them. "But what do we do about-…! Uriko, look!"

"What??" she asked worriedly while twisting her body around to see, and gasped. 

Right before their eyes, Bakuryu and the fake Uriko twitched, and then began to disintegrate. It was frightening and disturbing to watch their body parts shred into tiny pieces, then dissolve into thin air. When they were both gone, Uriko blurted out in a hushed tone of voice, "How did that happen?!"

"I have no idea!" he answered, looking incredulously at the spot where his twin was formerly lying. "That was…really freaky…"

"Okay…now I know that I wanna leave," she said and with her boyfriend still hugging her, somehow stood up.

"Same here…" Kenji agreed wholeheartedly and he just kept one arm around her waist the couple started walking away. "But, I-I wonder where they went…?" 

Uriko bit her lip and burrowed her face into his damp gray shirt and stated, "Mother and Alice will never believe this…"

Inhaling sharply as she laid her head lightly on his chest, Kenji answered hoarsely, "I bet the same goes for Yugo…" She didn't reply; they strolled the rest of way in silence.

*****


	4. Default Chapter Title

****

Bloody Roar II: Unwanted Betrayal

Part 4

"Yes, we're serious!" the brown-haired girl insisted stubbornly to Mitsuko, her older 'sister', and Yugo.

"Really, after we beat the crap out of them and used our rage moves, they just disappeared," her boyfriend defended. The adults raised their eyebrows at his language; Uriko nudged him in the ribs.

"We-ell…let's not worry about that right now," Alice told them, eyeing her younger sister and Kenji curled up together on the couch across from the adults. 

"Are you guys okay?" Yugo questioned, following the gaze of his girlfriend and noticing the two teenagers' position.

"Uriko, Kenji, did you get hurt?" Mitsuko chimed in, quickly looking over her daughter.

"No," they answered in unison while shaking their heads.

"The new techs you taught Uriko and what Yugo taught me helped us out; we combined some our moves." Kenji said gratefully.

_A technique involving both of them?_ Yugo wondered.

"Yeah, thanks Mother," Uriko smiled and went over to give her mother a hug, then returned to her previous spot next to her boyfriend.

"Don't they look cute?" Alice whispered to Yugo.

"I'm surprised you guys aren't fighting or arguing with each other," He replied out loud, addressing his brother and Uriko.

"Why would we be doing that?" Kenji questioned while making eye contact with Yugo.

"I think he means because of your rough first meetings," Alice answered for him. 

Kenji's eyes clouded over as he said bluntly, "I wasn't myself."

"Besides, I was kinda feeling crazed with quickly learning moves from Master Long and Mother being kidnapped and all," Uriko hastily jumped in. "…And speaking of Master Long, I haven't seen him or the others in a while."

"They have their own things to do and lives to run, Uriko," her boyfriend said. "…But I know what you mean."

She looked up at him. "You miss them too, Kenji?"

"Well…not particularly Busuzima," he answered dryly. "But the others, yeah, even though I'm kind of scared of Stun and I don't think that Shina really cares for my company." Uriko grinned. 

"She cares about us, just doesn't show it. I think it's hard for her to show much emotion, and I know someone else who can identify with that…" she teased.

"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Kenji shot back, carrying on the conversation as if they were the only ones in the room. 

"Hmm…this is a rare moment; better take it down," the sophomore girl continued, pretending to write something down on an invisible pad of paper. "You're showing signs of surprise, irritation, sensitivity…"

Growling lightly, he mock-threatened, "Better cut that out or else…"

"Or else what?" she asked, glancing at him with wide, innocent eyes.

"Or else I'm gonna…" All of a sudden, he imprisoned her with one arm and began tickling her with his other one.

"Ahh! Mercy!" Uriko protested, growling at her vulnerability. Laughing and gasping for breath, she socked Kenji's arm repetitively until he'd loosened his grip on her.

"Ahem…" Alice interrupted as politely as she could.

Blushing, Uriko and Kenji parted and sat on the opposite ends of their couch, away from each other.

A serious look on her face, the brown-haired girl said softly, "I'm glad I get to live to see my fifteenth birthday," She smiled at her boyfriend. "Thanks."

"I still feel a little sorry for not watching out for you in the first place," he replied, guilt reflecting in his eyes.

"Don't!" she insisted.

"Only three more days, Uriko," Mitsuko reminded her daughter after smiling at Kenji.

"Yeah," Uriko grinned excitedly. "Can't wait!"

"Um, not to be rude, but it's getting a little late," Alice announced. "We should get going."

"Yeah," Yugo agreed and stood up. "Let's go, Kenji."

"…Okay," he said a bit reluctantly, casting a quick look at his girlfriend.

Her eyes suddenly brightening, Alice jumped up from her spot and she tugged on Yugo's arm. Glancing questioningly at her, they left the room for a few moments and Mitsuko went with them while Uriko and Kenji shrugged at each other. Soon, they came back and Alice said, "Come on, Kenji."

Smiling sadly at Uriko, he went over to his girlfriend and the young couple hugged tightly before he followed Yugo and Alice out of the room. Letting out a heavy sigh, Uriko called out, "Good night, Mother!" as she trudged up the stairs after they had left, and went into her room to sleep.

*****

"That was scary, huh??" 

"Yeah, geez!"

"I would have enjoyed it better if Uriko hadn't shrieked in my ear so often," Kenji kidded.

"Hey, you screamed in mine, too!" Uriko protested.

"Take a chill pill; I think all of us screamed at one time!" Erika said.

"Not our fault!" Ryan Scheller insisted; he had gone to the movies along with the others. 

"Don't worry, none of us screamed as loud as he did!" a third voice toward the back of the group teased as she teasingly jabbed the ribs of the person standing next to her.

"That was you, not me!" the masculine-sounding teen replied.

The others in the group laughed as they watched the Asian girl say, "Hell no, it wasn't!" 

One of their new friends, Chrysta Roberts growled playfully as she raised her fist in mock threat. A five-foot and four-inched tall girl with shoulder-length black hair and deep brown eyes, she was the tomboy of the six. Even though she was the youngest of them at the age of thirteen and the lone freshman, her friends didn't treat her any differently. Quickly adjusting her glasses, she looked at the boy standing next to her and said, "You're gonna get it now!" 

"Hey, I was kidding!" Her boyfriend, Curtis Holser told her, holding up his hands protectively. At two inches taller than her, he smiled reassuringly down at the girl and absentmindedly ran a hand through his thick brown hair. Although he was fifteen years old just like Kenji, Erika, and Ryan, he was a few months their senior, making him the oldest in the group. He and Chrysta were also the most teasing and playful couple of the friends.

"Suuure you were, Curt!" Chrysta answered, rolling her eyes while grinning widely.

His blue eyes twinkling, Curt chuckled and pretended to look offended. "Well fine, be that way!"

Laughing, Uriko finally said, "Okay you two, break it up, break it up! We should be going home, ya know."

Just then, Erika remarked, "Hey, it's only 5:00; still early. Uriko, can we go to your house and hang out for a little bit? We're not exactly excited to go back to school tomorrow."

She nodded enthusiastically. "Well, sure! I don't think Mother will mind if we just don't make too much noise."   
"We won't…" Ryan said.

"That is, unless we have a good reason to shout or be loud." Chrysta commented mysteriously while the group started walking toward Uriko's house.

The hostess rolled her eyes as she joked, "Chrysta, you're not gonna let out some war-cry like Xena and then decide to fight Curt or something at my house, are you?"

"Hmm…"

"Don't give her any ideas!" Curt shushed hastily, even as he was chuckling at the thought.

After a few minutes, the teenagers reached Uriko's house. Not noticing that her home was dark, she placed a finger to her lips, indicating to be quiet and took out her key. Unlocking the door, she pushed it open and called out, "Mother, I'm back-with my friends!"

Her eyes emitted a light glow as soon as they sensed the darkness of the area. Hoping that no one saw that, with the exception of Kenji, the female student shut her eyes and her hand fumbled along the wall, trying to find the light switch. When her fingers caught the small nub, she flipped it up and the room was instantly brightened. Just getting used to the light, Uriko squinted and turned back to her friends, beckoning as she said, "Come on-"

She was interrupted by loud voices shouting, "Surprise!!!" that came from the room, and she tumbled down from the impact of the noise. Stammering, "W-what?" the fourteen-year-old girl faced foreword to see who had yelled that and gasped.

Balloons bobbed around the living room and colorful streams ran along the ceiling, coming together at the center. Beams of blinking light were flashing across the walls, and music was blaring out of a boom box sitting on top of one of the couches. Beautifully-wrapped presents sat on top of a table that was near the door; a group of students from Uriko's school all grinned as they ran up to her and sprayed Silly String over her hair and body. Shivering slightly, she glanced over herself at the mess on her thin white shirt paired with black windbreakers.

"H-hey!" she protested, putting her hands up to shield herself from the long, sticky strands of string as she giggled. 

"Happy Birthday!" her friends yelled in unison, even Kenji, Erika, Ryan, Chrysta, and Curt.

"I'm not gonna turn fifteen until tomorrow!" Uriko told them, still giggling.

"We know that," Erika answered, stepping up next to her best friend. "Kenji told us!"

"Yeah, we were gonna do something special tomorrow," Ryan started. "But he said that you'd probably expect it."

"Teehee, Uriko, look at him now!" Chrysta jerked her head at her friend's beau.

Kenji was flushing the whole time they were talking and when everyone glanced at him, he turned away with a shy smile. Grinning widely, Uriko ran up to him and gave him a hug from behind, and admitted into the soft fabric of his shirt, "You guys are the greatest; I love ya all!" Her boyfriend's face turned an even deeper shade of crimson at her words.

_I love you too, Uriko…just wish I had the courage to tell you…_ he thought silently to himself.

"Hey, let's dance!" Uriko exclaimed as someone stuck a CD into the boom box and some of the students moved toward the center of the room; she tugged Kenji to them and motioned for her other friends to go along.

An hour later, the sky had started to darken outside and the majority of her friends began to leave. She individually gave them all a hug, then called out "Bye!" as they walked out the door. 

"Hmmm…" she mused as she sat down on the couch.

"What?" Kenji asked; he was planning to stay overnight.

"I'm not trying to sound inconsiderate," his girlfriend started to say. "But something was missing at the party…"

He smiled and pointed at the dark kitchen, where the only source of light was tiny flames from sixteen lit candles. "Cake?"

Uriko grinned. "You know me too well!"

"It was a guess," he admitted a bit sheepishly.

She shrugged, still grinning. "Well Kenji, It's the thought that counts."

The couple went expectantly toward the kitchen, nearing the candles and cake. Right when they stepped into it, Uriko could see a silhouette of her mother standing behind the cake, a warm smile on her face. Thanks to the glow of her eyes, the birthday girl could also make out two shadowy figures standing next to Mitsuko; she assumed that it was Alice and Yugo. Her mother snapped her fingers, and a low murmur of voices sang "Happy Birthday" in unison.

When they stopped, Uriko gushed happily, "Wow, thank you, Mother, Alice, Yugo, Kenji!"

As the light suddenly turned on, she linked arms with her boyfriend and smiled at the three people standing before her. 

"What about me?" a voice from behind asked casually.

"Hmm…? Who's that…?" Uriko turned to see who had addressed her.

Leaning against the wall, a tall figure in a light blue tank top and matching shorts snickered when spotting the surprised look on the brown-haired girl's face.

"Shina!" Uriko exclaimed.

"Jane, please," was her reply. With a half-smile, Jane Gado stepped up to the birthday girl and said, "By the way, surprise."

"I apologize, mademoiselle Uriko, but I couldn't convince my daughter to change into something more 'appropriate'." Came the words from the shadows as a man with the same spiky blonde hair as Jane appeared into kitchen from the living room; Uriko guessed that it was Alan Gado, and she remembered that Alice had told her about him. 

"U-um, hi! Oh, and it's okay, I know that Shi-I mean, Jane doesn't like dressing up," the young girl replied shyly. 

"Hey there, little kitten." Someone else chimed in. Uriko grinned and questioned, "Jenny?"

"Don't wear it out," replied the slim woman with short blonde hair. A half-smirk over her red lips, Jenny Burtory slowly strolled in from the open door in the living room and positioned herself next to Jane and her father.

"Wow…I can't believe so many of you are here!" the female sophomore exclaimed excitedly as she gave a couple of little hops and twirled giddily. "But…what about Master Long?"

"What about me?" a voice asked her from behind.

Grinning widely, she whirled around expectantly and saw an Asian man with long black hair tied together in a tight braid hanging over his back.

"Master!" Uriko blurted out.

A small smile on his face, Long Shin clasped his hands over his head and bowed at her in respect; his pupil did the same.

"How did you find them all?" Kenji asked his older brother, looking just as surprised as his girlfriend.

Eyes widening, Uriko glanced at him questioningly. "What? Kenji, you mean, you weren't in on this?" He shook his head.

"Wasn't very easy," Alice replied for her boyfriend.

"But there is something called a phone that helped us out." Yugo said, grinning.

"I'd say coming for the little runt was worth it," Jane commented, winking at Uriko to make sure the young girl knew that she was kidding about the "runt" part. "Brought us together for a reunion."

A split-second after the nineteen-year-old had said that, all the adults gathered together in a group to greet each other, casually converse and catch up with their currencies. Fanning herself, Uriko broke away from them, reveling joyously from the surprise. Wanting to go outside and get some fresh air, she smiled at her old allies, and then ran up the steps leading to the upstairs hall. Noticing that his girlfriend had left the crowd, Kenji jogged up the stairs as well, following her. 

Upstairs, Uriko went into her room, and slowly opened the double doors leading to her small, personal balcony. Sweat drops glistening on her forehead, the teenage girl walked outside and leaned against the wooden beam. She gently shut her eyes and sighed happily at the cold touch of the light breeze that brushed across her cheek. It enveloped her slender figure and whisked away the sweaty moisture of her dampened body, making her feel slightly chilled. 

The teenage girl peered up at the sky, then suddenly felt something get wrapped around her shivering body. Clutching the dark blue fabric, she turned and asked into the darkness, "Who's there?"

"Kenji," her boyfriend replied, retracting his fingers after placing his jacket over her shoulders.

Smiling gently at him, Uriko snuggled more into the jacket, sighing at the warmness radiating off of it that'd come from Kenji's body. Wordlessly, he stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, laying his chin on her shoulder.

"Have a good party?" he asked softly.

"Yeah," she replied, nodding. "I gotta go back down soon and talk with the others…"

Silence fell between the two, and the couple started to sway slightly, standing there together while the stars above blinked at them. Finally, Uriko said into the wind with a smile, "Those people down there are my friends, I guess… Hehe, I really do adore them all. I love them too."

Before he could stop himself, Kenji asked, "And what about me?"

_Idiot!_ He cursed himself inwardly when his girlfriend didn't answer for a long time.

"…Well," she started to say, turning around to face him. "Your situation's not like theirs."

"…How so?"

"Them, it's just as friends," Uriko explained. "I mean, except for Mother and Alice. But you, Kenji, I…kinda love you in special way." She looked a bit confused while saying that.

_I wonder what means…it is the same as the way I'm thinking…?_ The black-haired teenager wondered.

She cocked an eyebrow in slight surprise. "That doesn't scare you?"

"No." he answered truthfully, smiling shakily at her as he continued, "Are you saying that it's in the other way, different from relatives and friends?"

"…Yeah," she said.

Nervously meeting her eyes, Kenji slowly stroked a few loose strands of her silky brown hair and confessed in a low whisper, "Just to let ya know, I love you too."

The female student let out a soft gasp. "R-really…?" His throat feeling dry, he nodded, unable to reply verbally. Stepping away from her, Kenji bent down and plucked something up from the ground. Handing them things out to her, she grasped them and looked at tall objects: two beautiful roses, one with delicate blue petals and the second was purple. Tied around both of the green stems was a small red ribbon in a knot. Smiling shakily, Uriko gently touched the cyan petals of the first rose, and was surprised at how smooth it felt.

"This is so soft…" she remarked quietly. "It feels like they're made of silk-" Looking at her companion, she asked, "Kenji, you didn't…"

His blushing told her his answer; the fourteen-year-old girl set the flowers on top of the beam surrounding and preventing the couple from falling to the first floor. A lone tear escaped from one of her wide brown eyes and slipped down her smooth cheek. Shakily, her boyfriend lifted his hand and gently wiped the tear away with his index finger. As he began to shrink away, Uriko caught his hand and pressed the palm against her cheek, caressing the rough pad with her soft facial skin.

"Riko…" Kenji murmured, sounding as if he was straining his voice to talk; she smiled at him using her nickname.

"Yeah…?" was her quiet reply.

Tipping her chin up, he slowly bent his head down and lightly touched her mouth; instantly, Uriko's eyes fluttered to a close and she went to link her hands together behind his neck. In turn, the fifteen-year-old boy wound his arms around her slender waist and started to thoroughly, but gently caress her lips. Feeling a little light-headed and dizzy due to the kiss, she relaxed and subconsciously sunk against him.

With the ticking and gentle chirping of crickets in her surroundings, the auburn-haired student heard none of that. The only sound that reached her ears was her fast-paced pulse, and the fierce pounding of Kenji's heart as one of her hands left his neck to rest on his muscular chest. Without realizing it, Uriko clenched her fist to a close, grabbing small mounds of his navy blue shirt while she doing so; a tingle of pleasure shot up her spine. 

They were so wrapped in their kiss that neither of them noticed the small raindrops that began pelting down at them from the gray clouds above. Multiple footsteps stalked rather noisily up the stairs and went into Uriko's room. The noises approaching the couple were sounded, but the two didn't hear or acknowledge it. The footsteps halted to an immediate stop upon seeing the busy teenagers, and a low gasp came from Alice's mouth. Instantly turning around, the young nurse took a hold of Jane's arm and dragged the stunned tomboy out of Uriko's room.

"I don't believe this…!" the blonde teenager whispered to her blue hair, pig-tailed friend.

"Yeah, even though I kinda already knew…imagine my sister with Kenji!" Alice agreed in a hushed voice as the girls sprinted back down the stairs.

"Hey guys…!" Jane started murmuring as she reached the bottom step.

Back upstairs, the couple was unaware of their former audience; departing after long, slow moments, Kenji's eyes sprang open as he smiled lazily. He looked at his girlfriend intensely before she exclaimed delightfully, "Hey…it's sprinkling!"

Raising her arms up into the thick air, Uriko lifted her face and was soon beginning to get soaked from the rain. Her clothes dampened by the water, she wagged a moistened finger playfully at her boyfriend and asked, "Hey Kenji, do you like rain?"

"I feel alright about it…" he replied timidly.

"Mmm…" was her reply as she gracefully spun herself around in a circle before saying, "Wanna go back down now?"

"Sure," he replied nonchalantly with a shrug. Grinning as Kenji turned his back on her, Uriko pounced on him and gripped his shoulders tightly while her legs dangled freely around his waist. He protested, "Hey…" but didn't complain further; just held onto her legs and began walking out of the balcony.

With his girlfriend on him piggyback style, the young couple went back through the fourteen-year-old girl's room and walked across the hall, leaving the balcony doors open. When they approached the staircase, Uriko slipped off of his back and settled for holding his hand. Stepping down the stairs together, all eyes were focused on them as soon as the two teens reentered the living room. 

"W-what?" Uriko questioned her friends. She was starting to feel a little self-conscious from the attention she was receiving.

Mitsuko and Jenny's eyes fell upon their intertwined fingers, and then looked at the others with surprised expressions on their faces; the couple instantly blushed. Uriko's mother nodded at her companions and smiled at her daughter and beau approvingly.

"Ahhh…" the young girl stammered shyly, trying to think of something to say. 

"Umm…" her boyfriend supported.

"So anyway…" Alice started to say as she turned away, not wanting to embarrass her sister any longer; the other adults looked in the nurse's way.

"Whew…" both of the teenagers sighed in relief.

"Oh, I just realized something," Uriko said all of a sudden.

"What?" Kenji asked.

She smiled. "I never got to dance with ya."

"I, I don't know how…" he confessed.

After going over and retrieving the boom box, she tugged on his hand while insisting, "Come on," and led him into the kitchen, where the untouched cake still sat upon the table; the candles were blown out, though.

Uriko set the boom box on the counter and fiddled with some of the knobs and buttons, while Kenji hung back, feeling a little awkward.

A few seconds later, a low song with a soft melody starting playing from the speakers and the pleased girl grinned. Turning her attention to her boyfriend, she went over to him and said immodestly, "Dance?"

"Uriko, I don't know how…"

"This is a slow song; doesn't require much." She informed him. "Trust me…"

"Alright," he agreed finally.

Unabashed, she took his hands and placed them on each side of her waist, then intertwined her arms around his neck. As a throaty voice sung out the lyrics to the song, they both instinctively began to sway to the rhythm.

"Is this all I have to do…?" Kenji murmured.

"Yeah…" she answered. "Not as hard as you thought, huh?"

They simultaneously stepped away from each other as the song started to fade. His head suddenly perking up, Kenji realized, "Hey Uriko, you never got to blow out your own candles…"

"Well…I was too surprised by everyone coming here, that I guess I forgot!" she admitted.

In the living room, Alice overheard the couple's conversation, and hushed the other adults.

"…What about now?" Kenji asked.

She shrugged with a smile. "Why not?"

The two of them walked about halfway over to the kitchen table before she remembered, "Oh! Forgot the matches."

"Don't bother," her boyfriend assured. Closing his eyes, he raised two fingers in front of his face. As his eyes sprang open, a little image of fire flickered in the orangish-brown pupils; Kenji pointed his fingers toward the candles and flames ignited at the top of the waxy sticks.

"Wow, very cool," Uriko said, looking at him in admiration. "Guess fire's your specialty."

A sly smile spread over his lips. "Better be careful though, cause if you don't… Then play with fire, and you're gonna get burned."

"We-ell, I'll just put it out with my new ice tech!" was her confident reply.

He smirked. "Whatever you say, Riko."

"Is that a challenge, Kenji?" the fourteen-year-old asked, grinning. Her other friends began coming in from the living room.

"Maybe later…but now," he nodded toward the blue-frosted cake. "Just make a wish and blow out your candles…"

"Remember, keep it to yourself," Mitsuko said gently, approaching her daughter from behind. Nodding, Uriko squeezed her eyes shut, mouthed something quietly, and then blew hard at the candles; all of them went out at her first try and the others clapped graciously. 

She smiled and glanced at her friends: her older sister, Alice, with an arm slung around Yugo. The birthday girl sneaked a look at the proud, confident tomboy, Jane standing nearby her tall, spiky headed father, shoulder to shoulder with Jenny and her Kenpo teacher, Long, speaking quietly with Mitsuko.

Last but definitely not least, Uriko's gaze fell in line with the shy brown eyes of her black-haired boyfriend. As the couple shared a private look, she smiled warmly at him and mouthed silently, "Let's go,"

Looking questioningly at her, he shrugged and obliged, pushing his way to follow her as she trailed into the living room.

"Thanks for the special effects," she said with a teasing grin.

"You're welcome; it kinda comes naturally." He answered modestly, plopping down onto the couch and beckoned her over to him.

Slowly bending to sit on his lap, Uriko linked her arms around the base of his neck. Yawning, she snuggled into him and said, "Mmm, warmth…"

"You're cold?" he asked with a timid swallow as she laid her head on his chest, over his thudding heart.

"A little mentally exhausted, maybe." Came her soft answer while she shut her eyes. 

"Uriko…will you promise me something?" he questioned softly, sensing a weird, familiar feeling about her lying so still against him.

"Promise what?"

"…Don't ever get yourself so hurt, like in the fight with our terror twins," he proposed. "I dunno what I'd do if you ever…left me that abruptly."

"I promise I will try not to," was her solemn reply. "And you, Kenji?"

"Of course I promise as well," he answered, sounding just as serious as she had.

"Thanks," said the brown-haired girl sleepily, her breathing starting quieted down.

Letting out ragged breaths himself, her boyfriend sighed and slowly began to relax, placing an arm on the petite student's back. Smiling gently down at her, Kenji followed her example and drifted off to sleep after a few minutes.

****

Epilogue

_"I wish that we'll all be together, Mother, Alice, Yugo, Jane, Alan, Jenny…especially Kenji and I…" _had been what the birthday girl whispered as she blew out the candles on her cake. That wish will come true, of course, unless something occurs and happens to separate everyone…

****

To be continued…

****

Author's Note: The epilogue was a little corny, huh? Well, whoever read this, thanks for being so patient and putting up with such a long story! If you viewers want another sequel, I'll gladly write one, just be warned that I'm not gonna start it until I find more info about Bloody Roar III. Again, I want to say thank you and please look out for my future fics; also, if ya have time, leave a review!


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